Selena Gomez Becomes "Best Friends" With Young Kidney Disease Survivor Onstage at WE Day California

Selena Gomez isn't taking her life-saving kidney transplant for granted. On Thursday, the singer and actor took the stage at WE Day California in Los Angeles to use her experiences to connect with fellow survivors of kidney diseases and inspire others to take action in their communities. While walking the red carpet at the event, Selena stopped to pose for silly selfies with fans and fill in the WE charity's "I believe I can..." wall; both instances were posted on Twitter by fans, Elle reports. "I believe I can leave no one behind. WE are the change! Choose to see the goodness of the land of the living," Selena wrote on the wall, signing her message with a heart.

Once inside the venue, Selena, who has lupus, spoke a little about the kidney transplant she underwent last summer — "Last year, I had a kidney transplant, and it was weird. It was weird but hard," she shared, according to E! News — before bringing Nellie Mainor, a young survivor of a rare kidney disease, onstage. "This little girl with the big heart believes in the power of spreading joy and light to all," Selena said, holding back tears, as Nellie walked out, as seen in videos captured at the event and shared on social media by fans.

Selena then knelt down to Nellie's eye level to have a sweet chat with her. "Do you know how much I admire you? Have I told you that for the past two days?" she asked. When Nellie said that Selena had, the 25-year-old joked, "I'm gonna tell you more. Is it annoying?" She continued, "When I was sick, a very good friend of mine knew the perfect way to make me smile, and I was very lucky. And now I want you to know that everybody in this auditorium is your friend," Selena told Nellie, before asking the audience to raise green ribbons they had been provided with in order to "show how much we support [Nellie] and her campaign to raise awareness for kidney disease." As the crowd cheered, Selena turned back to Nellie to ask, "Are we best friends now? Promise?"

Also on Thursday, Selena, who hosted last year's WE Day California festivities, shared a photo on Instagram of her and Nellie holding hands while lying on top of the WE logo. "My sixth year doing this incredible show. They have such a force of young people that are doing so much for their communities and the world. This is Nellie. She's fearless and is wanting to spread awareness about kidney diseases," she captioned the sweet pic. WE shared another photo on Instagram of the two girls holding hands backstage at the event. "Thank you both for the example you set onstage. So grateful to have you! 💙🙏" they wrote.